


No Regrets

by cloudinkling



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human/Troll Society, F/F, Minor Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-01-09
Packaged: 2018-01-08 02:31:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1127297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudinkling/pseuds/cloudinkling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“We’re not married unless we’ve signed an official legal document.”</p><p>Terezi finally looked at her. “I know that, Ms. Sour Grapes. Why don’t you take a gander at that lovely document on the desk?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Regrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cephalopod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cephalopod/gifts).



Rose woke up in an unfamiliar bed, an unfamiliar snore beside her, and an unfamiliar weight on her left hand. The headache was not unfamiliar just another symptom of being hungover. She really hoped she didn’t fuck someone she’d regret. But when she looked over and saw the sharp pointed, conical horns that were so familiar, she knew she’d regret it. 

Instead of trying to find out if the identity of the person in the bed was indeed Terezi Pyrope, she took a shower, the only cure she had for a hangover. Which wasn’t a cure because she’d still have the headache, but it dulled the pains away, and made it much more bearable. She wasn’t trying to escape the issue of the person in the bed who happened to be both her brother’s, and her soon-to-be brother-in-law’s, ex. Not at all. 

She didn’t even notice the ring on her left hand’s ring finger. It looked like a dragon wrapped around the whole of the finger with Terezi’s blood colored gemstones lined along it, slightly too big for her finger in a way that made handshakes uncomfortable. She noticed when she got out of the shower, and wrapping the shower towel around her. When she entered the other room, Terezi sat on the edge of the bed, staring adamantly in the opposite direction of Rose, as she held up her own right hand and showcased her ring finger. 

On a human, that wouldn’t mean anything, but on a troll...that was the matesprit ring finger, and the amethyst cut in a shape of a heart rang true to what color Rose would take for herself. 

Rose stared at Terezi, dressed only in her bra and boxer underwear. “We’re not married unless we’ve signed an official legal document.”

Terezi finally looked at her. “I know that, Ms. Sour Grapes. Why don’t you take a look at that lovely document on the desk?”

Rose grimaced. “Do I have to?” she asked even as she went over to it. Signed by both her and Terezi was a marriage document. Their reverend was Elvis Presley and he signed it in a very good imitation of the real Elvis Presley, but underneath that was the official reverend’s signature officiating the document. 

Rose walked back to the bed, and flopped down on it. “Why the fuck did Dave have to appeal to his sense of irony and get married in fucking _Vegas_ of all places? Why couldn’t he ironically do the whole marry the troll in an official church and shock the reverend and congregation for his lack of morals by marrying the other species?”

“I like Vegas,” Terezi said. “It’s abundantly colorful at night.”

“Of course you like Vegas. How the hell did we get married in the first place? I can’t remember a thing.” She closed her eyes, trying to remember the night before, but only flashes of a deep blue remained.

Terezi was quiet for a moment. “We were both at their bachelor’s parties, drinking, and got caught up in talking about Dave and Karkat getting married. I said something about us getting married because we weren’t attached. You said we needed rings. We went out to a jewelers, and bought the rings, which led to the reverend, and you thought you’d one up Dave by getting married by a Human Elvis Presley impersonator. I thought it was funny. When we paid for the wedding, they gave us the hotel room for free.”

Rose blinked at her. “Wow. I guess they didn’t have any issues with you being a troll and me being human.”

Terezi frowned. “For a city that makes a portion of its money off of fast, drunk marriages, I wouldn’t think they’d have any qualms about marrying anyone. They make profit off of it either way.”

“True,” Rose said. Then she squinted at the alarm clock. “What time is it?”

“Eleven.”

“Shit” Rose sat up fast. “We need to get going. All of our things are at the other hotel, and we have to be dressed and ready for pictures by two. I don’t even know how close we are to the other hotel.”

“I guess that means I don’t get to take a shower,” Terezi said, petulant. 

“You snooze, you lose,” Rose said, going around and picking up her clothes, and tossing the ones that weren’t hers at Terezi. 

“If it weren’t for the fact that I’m in as deep of shit as you are, and this isn’t a reality TV show,” Terezi said as she pulled her shirt on, “I would find this whole situation fucking hilarious.”

* * *

 

Their hotel was on the other side of Vegas. The amount of money the taxi man charged them was outrageous, but they managed to get to the hotel, and stop by a drive-thru for a fast lunch within thirty minutes. Which was good because they only had two and a half hours to get dressed and ready for pictures before the wedding. The groom got to see the groom before the wedding, which was supposedly bad luck if they saw each other, but pictures had to be taken and it was easier to get them done before everyone but the wedding party arrived. 

Dave’s honor guard composed of Bro, who would not give up his hat, Rose, and Jade. Karkat’s own honor guard composed of Terezi, John, and Kanaya. 

Dave’s honor guard wore mostly red with black accents, and Karkat’s side wore mostly black with red accents. Each honor guard got to choose the dress or suit of their preference as long as it followed the coordinating color schemes. The grooms wore white suits with red accents.

Terezi managed to get a shower in, dressed in her suit, and camouflaged whatever affects the night before had on her within an hour. Then she turned the news on. Terezi looked more put together, than how Rose felt.

Rose’s dress was a drop skirt that had ruffles on it. It didn’t take long to get in it, but it was a good thing that Kanaya was already coming over to do Terezi’s hair as Rose didn’t have time to do anything but air dry her hair which did horrible things to it. She was doing her makeup when she heard Dave’s name mentioned on the news.

“What are they saying about Dave, Terezi?” she asked as she lined her lips. 

“They’re doing a report on the burial tombs he found in Africa, and yakking it up about him returning home from the site to marry a troll.”

“Hmm,” Rose said, coming around the bed to look over her shoulder. “Are they supposed to be releasing information on it now? And what does his marrying a troll have to do with his findings?”

Terezi rolled her eyes. “Lalonde, it has nothing to do with his findings, they’re just wanting to make gossip and the interspecies marriage is used as shock value.”

“Obviously, but it doesn’t make for good journalism.”

“And you’d know a lot about that, wouldn’t you?” Terezi said, looking at her askance. “You don’t think Dave didn’t show me articles of what you’d written when we were dating? I can guarantee some of the information you had wasn’t obtained legally.”

“Oh,” Rose said, a sharp grin forming on her face. She leaned back, shifting her weight to her other leg as she crossed her arms,“And you’d disagree with my journalism methods despite the fact that I bent the rules to shine light on criminal acts happening that most people were overlooking?”

Terezi matched her grin with her own sharp teeth. “I can count how many times you’ve been charged for liability on both hands, and still have enough left over to add to my toes. Just because you got away with it, doesn’t mean you weren’t charged.”

“It sounds like you’ve been stalking me, Ms. Pyrope.”

Terezi stood. “Dave talks, and all crimes cannot be forgiven,” Terezi said, jerking her pointy chin up as she moved into Rose’s personal space. 

They watched each other for a moment, close enough that Rose could smell Terezi’s red berry shampoo she used. Her thin dark lips were so close that Rose could just lean in and kiss them. Then someone knocked on the door. Rose looked away to check the time.

“That should be Kanaya,” she murmured. Terezi started for the door, but Rose caught her hand, waving her left hand in Terezi’s line of sight, looking anywhere but at Terezi. “I personally don’t want Karkat and Dave to laugh at us for this. If you won’t be upset, I’m going to put mine away in my clutch.”

Terezi paused, considered the implications then nodded. “My suit has pockets,” she said, taking off the ring. She gave Rose a smug grin as she put it in her suit pocket before going to answer the door. 

“Come on in, Kanaya,” Terezi said, holding the door open for Kanaya as she dragged her bags of makeup and equipment into the room. 

When she set moved the bags further in, Terezi shut the door. Kanaya looked up straight at Rose, and took a moment to register her being there before she frowned. 

“Rose. I didn’t expect you to be here. In Terezi’s room.”

“We decided to split the cost of a hotel room before we even bought plane tickets,” Rose said. “I thought Karkat would tell you.”

“Don’t listen to her, Kanaya,” Terezi said. “Ms. Sour Grapes is a liar, and only wants to hide the fact that she eloped last night.”

Kanaya laughed. “Vegas is the place to elope. I’m guessing you married Mr. Jack Daniels last night? The roguish pirate. I didn’t think that was your type, Rose.”

“You’re right, pirates are more your type,” Rose said.

Kanaya frowned. “I thought we agreed we would not mention that particular time in my life.”

“We did, but you mentioned my drinking issues,” Rose said. “And we agreed not to talk about that, too. Now, we are running late for the wedding.”

Kanaya nodded. “I have to say, you’ll be much easier than Jade, not that she was picky, but her hair is a beast to brush through. It’s a good thing the grooms didn’t need that much touch up, or I would be behind,” she said, plugging in the curling iron and straightener. “Your hair is lovely right now, Rose, so I may not need to help you along, but Terezi,” she hummed. “I need to do something with your hair. It’s too plain as it is. What would you have done?”

“Dragons,” Terezi cackled. 

“No, that wouldn’t go with the theme, but maybe we could add a red headband? Pull back enough of your hair to see your face, but pull some to the side to accent your cheekbones? Yes, that should be lovely,” Kanaya said, digging through her bags. 

“This should not take long. Please sit down, Terezi,” Kanaya said, motioning to the chair. “We’ll be done with plenty of time for me to tie down John and do something to his hair.”

* * *

 

When Terezi and Rose arrived at the hotel’s courtyard, where the wedding was set up to take place, Dave was dragging the wedding photographer around the hotel’s courtyard to each scenic spot he could find for a photograph of him and Karkat, or the honor guard, or Bec and Roxy who were the ring bearer and flower girl respectfully.

Rose went up to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t you think it’s time to let the photographer to do their job?” she asked. 

“They are doing their job. Do you see me taking pictures? Nope, not a single camera on me, doing exactly what you said and letting them take the pictures.”

“You’re doing everything but snapping the shot. Let them direct the shots. It’s their job.”

“It’s my wedding,” Dave said, jutting his lip out in a dramatic pout.

“Yes, I know groomzilla,” Ros said, patting his back. “But you’re paying them to take pictures, and if they don’t do a good job, you can always put up a negative review on your blog.”

They both gave the photographer a look over, and the photographer didn’t look away. 

“I think your wedding is in good hands,” Rose said, after a moment, turning to smile at Dave. Then she asked the photographer, “Where would you like us next?”

The photographer had Dave get a picture in with Bro, Rose and Karkat, frowning that the whole Strider family wasn’t there, but Dirk didn’t do airplanes or ceremonies that didn’t have people he was familiar with, and it was better if he just stayed home. Karkat was smiling without restraint as he and Dave got pictures of various positions showing their love and intimacy. The photographer did so well in organizing and balancing the scenes that Dave couldn’t complain. Karkat even took her aside and thanked her for stopping Dave’s photography rampage between scenes. She kissed him on the cheek just in time for the photographer to catch his surprised face which turned to rage as he tried to cover his embarrassment.

By the time the wedding guests arrived, the wedding party was back in the hotel lobby waiting for the wedding planner to signal them out to march. Bro and Terezi dramatically made their entrance down the aisle as they would stand by Dave and Karkat, respectfully. Rose walked with John, only to alleviate the awkwardness that walking down the aisle would bring her and Kanaya. They thought they’d be getting married like this a few years earlier. Now, Jade was walking Kanaya down the aisle, looking very color coordinated with black hair and green eyes and the dresses that accented each other. 

Rose looked away, catching Terezi’s eyes, and she got it. She understood. Because watching Dave and Karkat walking down the aisle would get her asking the same questions. What could have been if only they hadn’t fucked things up with the people who really loved them. 

They looked away when Jade had to go help the wedding planner bring Bec down the isle. He was tensed all over, and Jade smiled apologetically and telling the guests that he must be nervous to act this way. Even though Bec had been in various situations with strangers that never got him on guard in such a tense manner, and the only unfamiliar people Rose could see was a troll with fuschia markings that was probably Meenah Peixes and her bodyguards, as well as the few colleges Dave and Karkat invited that could come to the wedding. Jade parked Bec beside her, kneeling down to pet and soothe him as Roxy, decked in flowers from the flower crown in her hair to the flowers pinned into her short flower girl dress and dainty flat shoes, walked down the aisle throwing flower petals with cheerful abandon. She told Rose that if she was going to be the flower girl, then she was going to fucking look like a flower girl, even if she was twenty-eight. Dave was more than willing to supply her in an endless amount of flowers just as excited that she was so into being a flower girl as he was into the wedding.

The wedding march started up, and the wedding guests all stood. When the grooms didn’t come out after the first seconds, they started fidgeting. When the wedding march played a second time, a round of coughs started, and they started turning heads searching for a clue as to what was happening.

“Please don’t tell me they decided to go and actually elope, even though their wedding is already in Vegas,” Rose murmured to Bro, her fingers tightening around the flower bouquet she carried. 

Bro grinned tight, teeth clenched, and said, “I wouldn’t put it past those assholes. Dave must have gotten cold feet.”

“Not Karkat?” 

He snorted. “That little firestarter wouldn’t get cold feet in the Arctic.”

“Okay, if no one’s going to go check on them, Imma go do it,” Roxy said. She handed her empty basket to John. “Plz hold until I return, brb.”

Roxy hustled down the aisle first. Rose and Bro looked at each other, then headed after her. The lobby where Karkat and Dave were supposed to be at was empty when they entered it. Only Dave’s shoe was left behind. Jade, with Bec, and Terezi came in close behind Rose and Bro. Roxy ignored the shoe in favor of searching around the room for any clues.

Rose knelt down to pick it up, frowning. “They wouldn’t have left just like that. Not after the many hours they spent planning this thing.”

Terezi took the shoe from her. “And even if they played the ultimate prank on us, Dave wouldn’t have left his shoe behind.” Terezi jabbed it at Rose. Then reached into the shoe. “If they had played this sort of game with us, a note,” Terezi said, pulling out a small white card out of the shoe, “would have been left behind.”

Roxy and Jade turned around from where Bec was growling at the main door. Bro stopped interrogating the kid at the hotel desk and strode back to them, ready to swipe the card away, but Terezi already had the card opened, frowning openly at it. She maneuvered away from Bro’s grabbing hands, and sniffed the card. 

“It’s not Dave’s or Karkat’s,” she said, letting Bro swipe it out of her hands. 

He checked it over, nodded, and handed it to Jade, who let Bec sniff it. It didn’t surprise them when he growled.

“What did it say?” Rose asked, frowning as Jade and Roxy took a gander at the note. 

“It was a very good imitation of Dave’s hand writing and language, but it said that he and Karkat were going to elope because Karkat was irritated at all the crockery going on with the wedding.”

“And Karkat has honestly been enjoying all the wedding bullshit going on,” Rose said. “What do you think?” she asked Bro.

“Someone kidnapped the delicious coolkid and angry cherry because of monetary reasons,” Terezi cut in. “Dave did find that burial chamber.”

“Why couldn’t it have been Karkat?” Rose asked. “He’s a very popular novelist.”

“Who even kidnaps novelists?” Jade asked. “No offense, Rose! But unless they’re as important and well-known as J.K. Rowling who has made billions, no one’s going to kidnap a novelist. And Karkat is just a romance novelist. He may make billions, but no one’s ever going to take him seriously, sadly enough. I honestly think it’s Dave they kidnapped this time.”

“Enough chit chat,” Terezi said. “It hasn’t even been an hour, if we start searching now, we might be able to find them before it’s too late.” 

“I’ll call the police,” Roxy said. “Just in case. They probably won’t take it seriously, yet. They’ll probs just laugh it off, but at least we’ll have notified them.”

“Good, Jade, try to see if Bec can trail the scent,” Terezi said, tossing Dave’s shoe her way. Bro, you can come with us, as we track them down, and Lalonde,” Terezi said, frowning. “We need someone to stay here just in case. Work the networks, see if anyone calls, keep track of the information.”

“So, you want me to sit tight on my ass, while you guys go out searching?” Rose said, raising an eyebrow.

“No time for hurt feelings, Lalonde, we have to go,” Terezi said as Bec’s tail perked up, and he started towards the door. 

“Hey,” Bro said, bumping her shoulder, “We do need to know if anyone calls, and you’ll be in charge of John and Kanaya, too. If anything happens, you can send them out, or even leave them in charge.”

“Yes, but I’m still being told to sit on my ass and be a good girl,” Rose said, crossing her arms.

“Do you have any investigative knowledge?”

“No, but neither do you or Jade.”

“Jade’s a scientist, plus she has Bec, and do you really think I’d stay behind when Dave is in trouble?”

“Do you think I want to stay behind? He’s my brother.”

“Brodinger, are you coming?” Terezi asked from outside the hotel, door propped open with her shoulder. 

“Yeah, Ms. FBI, I’m coming. Keep your phone on, Rose,” he said, bumping her one last time before heading out. 

“Ugh.” Rose sighed.

“Don’t worry, Rosie, they didn’t ask me to come along either,” Roxy said as she and Rose headed back out the hotel’s side door where John and Kanaya were trying to keep the wedding guests entertained. At least John was. Kanaya was talking to them, asking pleasantries, and keeping the guests from trying to investigate what was going on.  

Rose beckoned for them, and said to the guests, “I’m very sorry, but it seems like something has come up. Please head to the reception area and enjoy the food and drinks we have arranged. We’ll get back to you as soon as any new information comes up.”

A wave of murmurs arose as Rose dragged John and Kanaya into the hotel room. “Okay,” she said, looking at them and dropping her voice low. “Something must have happened after Roxy left the building. It seems that someone kidnapped them.”

“It seems,” Roxy mocked. “Nah, honey, someone did steal our lover boys.”

“Do we know why?” Kanaya asked. 

“No, but we suspect it’s because of Dave’s findings in Guinea,” Rose said. 

“And Dave’s the only one who knows the location of the burial site, right?” John asked. 

They looked at him. He shrugged, “That’s what it said on the news, weren’t you guys watching? They had a whole section focused on his research today, and then they made the huge whoopdedoo on him marrying Karkat.”

“Did they give out any addresses or say anything about where they were getting married at?” Rose asked. 

“Nah, just saying he was,” John shrugged. “They didn’t do anything illegal about it, other than being asses, which isn’t technically a crime punishable by the state.”

“If it was, Johnny-boy, you’d already have been punished,” Roxy said, winking at him as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Alright, I guess we’re the communication group, so let’s go back to my room, and set up some networking around Vegas.”

“What kind of networking are you planning?” Kanaya asked as they headed to the elevator. 

“Well, I’m thinking we could maybe track Dave and Karkat’s phone. Probs not completely accurate, tho. If the kidnapper knows anything, they’d probs try and throw the phones away asap, but maybe we can get an eye as to where they’re heading.”

“And if they do still have their cell phones on them? And they are moving?” 

Roxy pursed her lips. “We’d have to double check. Just cause they’re movin’ doesn’t mean that they’re on our bois. I’d probs have Bro and them go check it out, esp if Bec hits a dead end.” The elevator dinged as they reached the third floor. 

“If Bec hasn’t reached a dead end, I’d have you guys investigate, esp if Bec is taking Terezi and group to a different location. Whatcha think Rosie Posie?”

“Sound good,” Rose said, as Roxy unlocked the door to her hotel room.

“Holy shit, Roxy, how much stuff did you bring here?” John asked, as they entered Roxy’s room. Computers piled around her bed, along with a mountain of plush animals and scarves, and one live cat. There was a gaming system hooked up to the hotel’s TV, with a box of games on the entertainment center. “Damn, I should’ve shared a room with you, and split the cost of a room, like Rose and Terezi did.”

“Wow, I didn’t know u were so eager to get into my bed, Mr. Egbert,” Roxy said, laughing. She went over to the computers, and started setting them up so Rose and Kanaya could use the other two computers, and turned on her main computer. “I didn’t want to leave anything behind because who knows what kinds of things Sollux would do to my equipment if I left it at the house? He’d get his gross honey hands all over my sweet loot.”

“Gross,” John said, sitting on her bed as they set it up. “Do you need help?”

“No, no, Johnny, we’re not programming today, we are investigating,” Roxy said, wiggling her brows as she placed the extra computers back to back on the table, setting up the keyboard, mouse, and cables up in record time. She pressed the power button on each, and hummed happily as they both booted up. Then she sat down, on the floor next to her own personal computer, using the bed to prop her back on, and her cat immediately finding its way to her lap. John scooted around the bed so he could watch her work over her shoulder. 

“So, what are Kanaya and Rose going to do?” he asked as Roxy booted up her computer. 

“Mmm, they’ll probably just be bringing up maps of Vegas, and checking to see where Terezi and comp have already been, or checking news outlets to see if the kidnapper contacted them with like, ransom money or something.”

“And what am I doing?”

“Oh, Johnnie-boy,” Roxy leaned up to pat his cheek, “you're doing the most importantest job. You are our eye candy.” She blowed him a kiss, then hunched over her computer. 

“What if I want to be more than eye candy?” John asked. 

Rose smiled over at him. “Good, you can be the bodyguard, then.”

“Why, do you really expect someone to come after us?”

“Do you know who the kidnapper is, John?” Kanaya asked.

“No?”

“We don’t know if they may have multitudes of peeps checking everything out, and making sure that they get away with it, or if it was a single person, or what,” Roxy said.

“I’d guess troll,” Rose said, and Kanaya glared over the computer at her. “I’m stating that on the fact that Dave and Karkat have all had some sort of fight training in their life, even if Karkat is out of practice since his career took off, but it would not be so easy for them to be taken out. Did anyone hear anything? See any fighting?”

“No,” John said, musing. “But couldn’t we have just been too far away? We were on the other side of the hotel’s courtyard.”

Rose shook her head, “Unless one of them was in danger, forcing the other to obey complacently, there should have been some sign of struggle—” Rose stopped as her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Where did you send all the wedding guests?” Terezi asked, a little huffy. 

“...We sent them to the reception area,” Rose said, standing up. 

“No signs of struggle, so there may have been an insider.” Terezi paused. “Definitely check to see if there’s a Meenah Peixes there.”

“Meenah Peixes?”

Bec barked in the background, and she heard Jade talking. “Yes, Rose, Meenah Peixes, Karkat invited her. She’s head of the Los Angeles Mafia. She and Karkat somehow became pals during one of my cases then, and she and I kept bumping heads because we were investigating the same thing. She had some peeps follow Karkat, and casually walked into him on the street and to ‘apologize’ took him out for coffee to get some info on me. Instead, they bonded over having to deal with friends and being in charge of things, and started making pale dates. Not,” Terezi said, “that they became pale. It was just useful for the case I was on.”

“The case that you’re still on leave for?” Rose asked, as casually as she could.

“Not your business, Sour Grapes! Now, we have to catch a dog,” Terezi said before hanging up. 

“Did you get their location?” Roxy asked, leaning her head back against the mattress to look at her.

“Shit. No, I didn’t,” Rose said, banging her head on heel of her palm. “I’ll call her back if we find Meenah. John, will you come with me?”

He jumped off the bed. “Yeah, sure, I’m game. I always wanted to see a real live Mafia leader.”

“A real live Mafia leader who can kill you very dead, John,” Rose said, as she went to the door. 

“Yeah, I know,” John shrugged. “Roxy can we have the hotel room key?”

“Sure, it’s by the TV.”

“Thanks,” he said, swiping it up as he passed the TV. 

It didn’t take them long to get to the reception, as the hotel had provided it for free, another bonus of getting married in Vegas. At least for Dave and Karkat. She and Terezi, on the other hand... She couldn’t even remember how it happened. Just that the hotel Terezi and she had stayed at hadn’t thrown in a free reception. Cheapskates. 

“Why would Terezi think that Meenah had anything to do with this?”

“Because she’s the head of a Mafia?” Rose said, raising a brow at him. 

“I know that, but just because she’s in the Mafia, doesn’t mean she did it, and I thought Karkat invited her?”

“He did. They were friends.”

“So, why would she do it?”

Rose shrugged. “Maybe she didn’t. But it doesn’t hurt to ask to see if she knows anything, and Terezi said to check it out. There has to be some reason for that.”

“Well, after you,” John said, holding the door to the reception area open for her.

“Always the gentleman,” Rose said, snorting. 

“I just don’t want to be shot,” John said, grinning. “You never know with wedding guests.”

The guests looked their way as they entered. Mr. Egbert sidetracked John, so Rose headed on through the guests, ignoring each one that tried to grab her attention. Instead, she searched for Meenah, who sat at a table eating some of the seafood they provided.

“Ms. Peixes,” Rose said. 

“Ms. Lalonde,” Meenah said, food in her mouth. “What a pleashore to meet you.”

“The...pleashore... is all mine,” Rose said, sitting down across from her. There were two men standing a ways behind her that couldn’t be anything other than body guards. 

“What can I do for you?” Meenah asked, pushing her plate of food aside to lean in closer. “Heard anythin about the grooms?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Rose said.

“Aw, you gotta be krillin me,” Meenah said. “You conch be believin that I did it. I like the shouty short buoy. I wouldn’t steal him away even if his buoyfriend does know where a lot of... gold,” she paused, eyes glazed, then coughed, “is. I wouldn’t do that to him.”

“Maybe not you, then? Do you know someone who would do it?”

“Nautical.”

“Nautical?”

Meenah frowned. “Not at all.”

“Not even if there was a Mafia here? Revenge against you? Something like that?” Rose pushed, leaning forward. The guards behind Meenah shifted, and she glared at them before settling back.

“Lady, if there was a revenge plot against me, they would do much worse than just carpin away with a buoy I was maybe pale for,” Meenah said, grabbing her plate back. “Why you so adamant aboat them bein kidnapped anyhow?”

“It’s just strange, that when we went and investigated the room, only Dave’s shoe had been left. No signs of struggle, nothing,” Rose said. 

“What if they eeloped somewhere else?” Meenah said, shrugging.

“After all that time with Karkat, do you really believe that he’d eloped at his own wedding? Doesn’t all his romance novels end in a wedding?”

“Naw, not the third one. The third one had the weddin in the middle,” Meenah said.

Rose blinked in surprised. “You’ve read them?”

“Of course, I was pale as a pearl for him, and you don’t just stop bein pearly for somebuoy,” Meenah shrugged. “Besides, he’s one of the few romance writers who varies his plot devices.”

“Yes, he’s very diverse in his characters and plots, I imagine that’s what makes him very successful.” 

“Way to leave me behind, Rose,” John said, pressing a hand on her bare shoulder. 

“You were busy,” Rose said. “So, you ‘reely’ don’t know anyone who might have even mentioned kidnapping them?”

Meenah grimaced. “Just because you used a fish pun is naut going to make me talk. I reely don’t know anyone who’d even consider kidnappin them.” Meenah said, looking Rose in the eye before frowning and puffing up her right cheek. “I’m shore of it.”

Rose breathed out slowly, and pushed her chair back to stand. “Thank you, Ms. Peixes, that’s all I needed to know.”

“Bye, Meenah,” John said, plates of cake and food balanced precariously on his arms.

“Bye, nerd,” Meenah said. “Good luck fishin Karkat. It’s a better shore when he’s around.”

“We will, Ms. Peixes, thank you for all the kelp,” Rose said, smiling as Meenah laughed. 

When they got back to the room, Roxy and Kanaya didn’t look up at them. 

“Have you found anything?” John asked Roxy, setting down a plate of food and cake beside Kanaya, Roxy, and Rose’s computer, taking his own plate with him back to his spot beside Roxy. 

“Is this Karkat’s wedding cake?” Kanaya asked, poking at it with a fork. 

John shrugged, “Yeah? The wedding guests had cut it. I guess they were impatient, and Rose didn’t specify that they couldn’t eat it.”

“They weren’t demons. I thought they’d have the common decency to wait for the grooms,” Rose said, stabbing her slice with a fork.

“Oh, well, more for us.” John dug into his piece of white cake. “I fucking love wedding cake. It’s like the only cake you can be sure wasn’t made with premixed cake batter.”

For a moment, they took time to appreciate the cake until Roxy said, “Rosie, you should call Terezi with the information you found from Meenah, and remember to ask where the fuck they are this time, so I can send John and Kanaya out to check the cell phones.”

“You found them?” John asked, leaning over to check out Roxy’s computer. 

“Of course, nothing like hacking the telephone company,” she said with a grin.

“Hmmm, hmmm, well, what about Microsoft, could you hack them?” John asked.

“Who do you think I am, John?”

Rose tuned them out as she called Terezi. “Terezi?” she asked as the phone stop ringing. 

“Shhh, Lalonde, we’re hot on the trail,” Terezi said, voice low.

“Does that mean you’ve found them?”

“Not quite, we’re still following Bec’s trail, but he led us to a casino.”

“Hmm, interesting. We contacted Meenah.”

“Congratulations, Sour Grape. Did she have anything interesting to say?”

“Hmm, not much, just that she was ‘shore that she didn’t know anyone who would kidnap them.’ Then she frowned.”

“Suspiciously?”

“I’m wondering,” Rose said, waking the computer up. She cradled the phone in between her shoulder and her ear. “I think, maybe, someone mentioned something? Or said something? Or maybe even Meenah said something, even jokingly.”

“A lackey who might have thought she was serious?”

“Maybe,” Rose said, searching the news for anything about Meenah Peixes. She frowned as she looked at the images cropping up. “Does Meenah have a second in command? Or someone she’d take with her at all times?” 

“No official second in command, just someone who kept everyone organized and got information from who knows where.” 

“I’m seeing images of Meenah and a blue troll? With horns like Vriska?”

John perked up in the corner of her eyes, but she ignored him. “Aranea?” John and Terezi said at the same time.

“Aranea?”

“Like Latula is to Terezi, Aranea is to Vriska,” John said, helpfully. “I didn’t get to talk to her a lot. Vriska didn’t like her all that much. Too passive.”

“But she wasn’t with Meenah at the wedding?” 

“She was,” Kanaya said. “She talked to the wedding planner.”

“And me,” John said, raising his hand. “She wanted to ask me about Terezi. I didn’t see her as we went down the aisle.”

“No, if she’d been with Meenah, it would have been noticeable, seeing two trolls like that,” Rose said. 

“Rose, where is Terezi right now?” Roxy asked, watching the screen on her computer.

“Terezi, where are you?” Rose asked.

“We’re at Caesar’s Pal—” Terezi’s phone cut out.

“They’re at Caesars Palace, Roxy,” Rose said, putting her phone up. 

“Well, fuck, that’s where their phones lead to. What happened with Terezi?”

“Phone cut out. I’m going after them.”

“Give me a minute to check Terezi’s phone signal just in case,” she said, sticking her tongue out as she typed rapidly. She frowned. “Yeah, I think her phone fried. I’m not picking anything up.”

“Fried?” Kanaya asked.

“Out of commission, we won’t be able to call her. It’s not picking up any signals. Like, how even when you turn off your phone, you still can receive texts and calls, and when you turn it on, you can view them. We won’t be able to send anything to Terezi.”

Rose went to the door, and held it open so they could file out. 

“What about the wedding guests?” Kanaya asked, as they walked to the elevator.

“What about them? They should be fine,” Rose said, crossing her arms, and drumming her fingers against her bicep.

“They should be, and they probably are safe, but shouldn’t some of the wedding party stay behind and keep them updated? Or even just entertained. This is Dave and Karkat’s wedding, they’d be disappointed if the guests didn’t stay around for the wedding.”

“So you’ll stay behind?” Rose asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Kanaya nodded. 

“I’ll stay behind, too,” John said. “I can do magic tricks to keep them entertained.”

“John,” Rose frowned. 

“You’ll be fine,” he said, smiling. “Besides, you’re better at fighting than I am. I don’t have any training, you’ve taken martial arts since you were like 2.”

“More like 5,” Rose said, smiling. The elevator stopped. “Alright, I guess we’ll split. Stay safe.”

Kanaya snorted, and John rolled his eyes. “More like you guys stay safe. Bye,” he said, waving them off as he and Kanaya headed to the reception.

Outside the hotel, a couple of taxis were waiting, and they picked the one that looked the least bored, and got in. They directed the driver to take them to Caesar’s palace. 

Rose searched Meenah Peixes on her phone, and showed the results to Roxy. “It doesn’t seem like Aranea and Meenah separated, not publicly, but it does look like there’s been some fall outs over the past years. Recent pictures show them less together than Vriska and Meenah.” 

“John might know more about it?” Roxy said. 

Rose nodded and dialed his number. When he picked up, she asked him if he knew anything about the relationship between Aranea, Meenah, and Vriska.

“Ah, yeah, maybe a little?” He laughed nervously. “I was kind of there when Meenah and Vriska were really getting on? After a while, it seemed that Aranea was catching on? Maybe? That Vriska and Meenah had their own thing going on, and pushing each other forward? Like, in a bad trollish way?”

“So, maybe Aranea is trying to break away from Meenah? But why kidnap Dave and Karkat?”

“Money to get out of Meenah’s shadow?” John suggested, shrugging. “Oh, Kanaya has something to say, here.” They shuffled the phone around for a moment.

Then Kanaya answered, “Also, by doing it through Karkat, she may be suggesting something to Meenah. Maybe her unhappiness with Meenah.”

Rose waited a static moment before speaking. “That’s not what happened with Porrim and me, I’ll have you know.”

“I know. It was just one thing in a long list of things between us,” Kanaya said. 

Roxy tugged on Rose’s sleeve, “Rosie, I believe we have a guest beside us.”

“What?” Rose looked out the window. “What the fuck is she doing?” she asked as Meenah waved at them from the inside of her limo that drove beside the taxi. Then Meenah beckoned at them.

“Kanaya, I’m going to have to let you go. Meenah pulled up beside us.”

“Oh, did she? John thought that might happen. He talked to her for a bit, then she ran out of the reception. Goodbye,” she said, and hung up. Rose set the phone down, cradling it in her lap.

“Rosie, you talked to her, do you think it’s worth it?”

She nodded. “Could you please pullover?” Rose asked their driver. They nodded, and Rose took the time before he pulled over to stuff her phone into her bra.

When the driver stopped, they got out of the taxi, and went to where Meenah’s limo had pulled over as well. 

She patted the seat beside her. 

“We’re not getting in. Unless you’re heading to Caesar’s Palace as well?” Rose inquired.

“Shore, get in,” Meenah said, scowling at her. 

“Roxy, could you pay the taxi driver?” Rose asked. 

“Yeah, brb,” she said. 

“You’ll wait for her?” Rose asked, as she put one foot into the limo.

“Of course, who do you take me for?” Meenah asked, irritated. 

When Roxy came back, and scrambled into the limo, Meenah had her driver pull out. 

“What did you fish out?” Meenah asked them. 

“Depends, why are you meeting us?” 

“Shell, I got to thinkin, and I think that I may know someone who may have stolen your buoys.”

“Did John happen to help with any of this ‘thinkin’?” Roxy asked, and giggled when Meenah tossed a remote at her.

“Shut it, guppy. Anywhale, if it’s that person, it might be best if I came along.”

“You’re pretty much affirming our conclusion,” Rose said. “Why do you think Aranea kidnapped them?”

“Glub,” Meenah said, making a face. “Maybe it’s cause I said how nice it would be to kidnap a couple of buoys and get some money off of it so I could put my kingdom back to sorts after that case of Terezi’s. Her little nemesis damaged my good PR with the people.”

“Not that you should have good PR,” Rose said.

“I ain’t a good person,” Meenah said. “I don’t expect golden reviews. But I take care of the people who give me money to do so. I looked bad when it was a federal agent who came in and saved the day. People thought maybe the could trust the police again.” 

“Did Aranea over hear your little musings?”

“That, or she heard the glubbin TV,” Meenah said, cackling. The limo stopped. “Aw shoals, I guess we’re already here. You think she’s reely at the palace?” Meenah asked. 

“That’s where Terezi lost phone signal,” Rose said. “Do you think Aranea is doing this for you?”

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Meenah asked as they entered Caesars Palace. The entrance had a marble statue in the middle of the room, and to the right was corridors with various shops. “Where are we going?”

“Roxy?” Rose asked, turning to her. 

“Hold on, I’m checking,” Roxy said, messing with her tablet. She frowned. “I...think their phones, Dave and Karkat’s, have been fried. I’m not getting any readings off of them.”

“Fuck,” Rose said. “And we can’t just search the whole building, it has at least 10 stories, if not more.”

“16,” Meenah said. 

“What?”

“16 stories, ain’t it wonderful? I should have a 16 story building. One whole story dedicated to aquariums. Another dedicated to me. And while the Roman motif is interestin’, I’d honestly prefer somefin with more golden statues of me. In various states of dress.” She and Roxy hi-fived.

“Do you have a signal from before? Could you try relocating it?” Rose asked Roxy.

“Rosie, once it gone, it gone,” Roxy sighed. “Fuck, I thought it’d be easier? I did not realize we’d have to deal with such a huge building.”

“Aight, are we tearin’ this place down to find the buoys or are we goin to ask nicely?” Meenah asked as she lounged in the theatre seat. 

“Aranea is probably not going to be in the business areas of Caesar’s Palace,” Rose said. “It’s more than likely that she’s in the hotel area. Meenah where are you staying at in Vegas?”

“At one of those swanky suites on the outskirts of town.” She shrugged. “I don’t remember where exactly, but it wasn’t near here. We didn’t get a hotel room, too risky.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to have stayed at Caesar’s but that doesn’t help.”

“Why don’t we ask security?” Roxy asked. “If anything, Jade would have been seen. She had fucking Bec with her. There’s no way they’d let that beast in without at least knowing that it’s like a service animal.”

“I would,” Rose said, looking over Roxy’s shoulder, “but it looks like they’re already coming to talk to us.”

“That a bad thing?” Roxy asked, craning her head over her shoulder to get a look

“I don’t know,” Rose said, watching the security guard approach them. 

“Shello, ladies and sir,” she said. 

“Shello! They said shello, omg,” Meenah said, laughing. “That’s Aranea,” Meenah said to Rose.

“That’s not my name, ma’am, but I do know that one of our guests would like to see you, and thought she would save you the trouble of finding her.”

“That’s awfully kind of her,” Rose said, frowning, a bad feeling that they were going to enter the villains lair. Meenah just grinned at her, almost an I-told-you-so smile.

“Right, so if you’ll just follow me,” the security guard said. 

She lead them through the main business area of the building until they got to an area where six elevators were available in a little nook. Three on one side, three on the other. They entered the middle one on the left, and rode it up to level eight. The security guard led them to room 88, and knocked eight times before leaving. 

Rose blinked as Bro opened the door. “Well, that’s unexpected. I’d assume you’d be mummified in rope,” Rose said, taking a step back, just in case.

“Naw, I’m a fighter, can’t keep me down,” Bro said, grinning. He jerked his thumb back towards the hotel room. “You coming in? Dave and Karkat are here. They’re fine.” He turned to go back into the hotel room.

She took a step forward, and Roxy whispered, “Are you sure he’s okay?” She stopped, and shook her head imperceptibly even though Bro couldn’t, shouldn’t be able to see them. Then followed Bro behind into the hotel room, the door swinging close behind them.

What was really creepy wasn’t the fact that Terezi, Jade, Dave, and Karkat were sitting complacently on a sofa across from Aranea, but that Bec was also sitting beside the couch. He was wagging his tail, tongue lolling out of his mouth, and looked content to stay there forever, like nothing wrong was going on. 

“Aranea, what the fuck are you doing?” Meenah asked, pushing Rose to the side. 

“What’s it look like?” Aranea asked, standing up and brushing off her blue and black dressed. 

“Like you’re taking somefin I _jokingly_ mentioned and making it fo reel,” Meenah said. “I hope you know I didn’t reely want someone to kidnap the buoys.”

“Oh, I know,” Aranea said, a smile turning at the corners of her lip. “But I didn’t do this for you. Now, please, go stand behind the couch, and watch,” she said, waving her hand in front of Meenah. 

“Wha—” Meenah started, then stopped. She moved, following Aranea’s direct orders. 

“Did Meenah cheat on you or something?” Roxy asked. 

“No, of course not,” Aranea said, frowning. “Things could have gone so much better in Los Angeles if she’d listened to me. I’d be able to have been a huge asset when the serial killer started killing on our turf, but she didn’t listen at all. And I could have done so much more with helping people, and keeping our PR up.”

“Through mind control?” Roxy asked, frowning.

“I’m much stronger than I look,” Aranea said, smiling serenely. “Now, I don’t need all of you to have free will and conscious decisions,” Aranea said, gesturing at Roxy. 

“You’re wanting to be your own Mafia queen?” Rose asked, as Roxy moved with puppet-like motions to the couch, sprawling over Jade’s lap.

“Of course,” Aranea said.

“Are you going to ransom Dave?” 

Aranea sighed, “What else would I do with him?” She lifted her hand. 

“What about the information he has?” Rose said, glancing over at Dave. 

“Information?” Aranea asked, her voice taking on a gleeful tone.

Rose snapped her head back towards Aranea. “Yes, information. You do realize he’s the only one that knows the location of the burial sites.”

“I already knew that,” Aranea said. “I’d be able to make millions off of ransoming him.”

“Right, or you could just get the information from where they are from him. Then you could sell the gold to the black market and make more money than ransoming him would.”

Aranea pursed her lips. “Yes, but I’d have to fly there, ask locals to take me to it, and have people help me uncover it. It’s too much hassle.”

“Too much hassle when you can mind control everyone to do your bidding?” Rose rolled her eyes. “That sounds like a lame excuse. The airport may take some time, but I’m sure it’d be fairly easy to ask someone to give you their plane ticket. And you wouldn’t even have to lift a finger to get some locals to carry you, literally, to the tombs. If that’s too much hassle, then you’re lazy.”

“Lazy? Why don’t you try and control a small group of people from at least the other side of the USA?”

“You wouldn’t necessarily have to control them until you got in an airplane,” Rose said. “You’d have enough of a jump start then to get a good lead.”

Aranea walked over to her, and wrapped her fingers around Rose’s neck. “No, why don’t I just kill all of you except Dave? Honestly, I was trying to be good about this and not go on a killing spree. It’s not how I would start my reign, or my reputation as a benevolent Mafia queen, but as all options require a ludicrous amount of details that are all but ritualistic, well, I may as well start with a bang,” she said, tightening her fingers around Rose until she couldn’t breath, hands gripping Aranea’s.

Then she let go. 

“You really thought I would kill you,” she mused, as Rose gasped for air. “I’d be hurt, but you don’t know me. No, if I were going to kill you, it’d be with a much bigger bang, but, sadly, I don’t have the equipment for a bomb, and it wouldn’t do to hurt the other innocents in this building.”

“What are you going to do?” Rose asked.

“Maybe a variation of my idea of killing you, but I shouldn’t reely be telling you about it,” Aranea said, walking over to where Dave sat. She motioned him forward with her hand, and had him follow her over to the table where a computer sat. “I’ll have Dave give me the specific latitude and longitude of the site, and put all of you to sleep. By the time you wake up, I’ll be long gone.”

“Why did you even invite us in, if you already had a plan? Why didn’t you just take the information from Dave, and left him and Karkat wandering in the streets?”

“It’s no fun if someone doesn’t know what I plan to do, what I plan to become. I could simply erase your memory of everything that transpired, and be completely clean, but who would know? Not even Meenah would know, and I _want_ her to know that she lost me,” Aranea said, looking at her. 

“Then why don’t you have her conscious right now and talk to her?”

“Because she wouldn’t get it. And even if she understood that I wanted to be more than just her second-in-command in name, it wouldn’t be the same. Not even if she gave me that rank. I’m tired of being taken for granted,” Aranea said, clenching her fists. “I want her to understand that, and know what it feels like, but the only thing I can do is try and make my own kind of underground kingdom.” Aranea let out a shuddery breath, and looked at Rose. She smiled with tight lips. “That’s all you need to know, so please go sit by the couch while I get this information out of Dave.”

The world blurred in Rose’s mind. Similar to what it was like when she was drunk: aware of her surroundings, but unable to do anything or respond to outside stimuli. She could see everything clearly, hear everything, but it all slid over her as unneeded information except the couch, and that her legs should bend like this so she could sit in front of Terezi. It was like walking underwater with her eyes open.

Dave wrote something on a piece of paper, Aranea smiled, and she moved Dave back to the couch, and that’s when all Rose’s synapses turned off. 

* * *

 

She woke to Terezi hovering over her. Roxy was on her tablet by the window of the hotel room, rubbing her forehead, her face pinched in pain. Everyone else in the room was still conked out.  

“I’m guessing you woke up first?” Rose asked, touching her head then wincing as a drum of pain hit her temple. Terezi scooted Rose’s hands out of the way, digging her thumbs into Rose’s forehead in surprisingly soothing circles for how much it felt like Terezi was trying to nail her thumb through her school.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s not good to wake others from a psychic sleep. Not only is it really hard to get them to wake up, the earlier they wake the harder the headache. It’s only been five minutes, and I woke Roxy first.”

Roxy looked over at Rose giving a shaky thumbs up. “It’s worse than a hangover,” she groaned. 

“How are you holding up?” Rose asked Terezi as she moved her small hands away. 

“Peachy,” Terezi said, grinning ferally. “You get lots of psychic training in police force, and I can handle the pain. Aranea caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting her, exactly, and I wasn’t expecting her to be so much better at mind control than Vriska, but the sleep effect is something I was trained in Academy to escape. As long as there’s some knowledge that it’s what they’re planning to do, we have ways of forcing our bodies awake.”

“Mmm.” Rose stood up and stretched. “And when she didn’t kill me, it’d have to have been something not as lethal.”

Terezi nodded, then said, “Roxy is tracking Aranea through Meenah’s cell phone, which is why I woke her first.” Terezi tilted her head over to where Dave was leaning against Karkat, and drooling in the space between Karkat’s suit and his neck. She smiled at them fondly, and said, “I won’t be waking them, and the others up just yet. Wouldn’t due to give them headaches on their wedding day.”

“She’s going to take a plane to find the burial site,” Rose said. “Terezi, you’ll need a new phone. Do you have someone in the FBI you can contact to catch her?” 

“Do, but their contact information is in my old cell phone, and I can’t remember them off the top of my head. But I do have a spare back at the hotel.”

“Even if she got a flight that boards in a few minutes, we might still be able to stop her. She’d have to land one more time before going across the Atlantic.” 

“There’s only one airport that has a plane heading east in an hour,” Roxy said. “You might be able to stop her. It looks like the one she’s heading to, anyway.”

“Let’s go,” Terezi said.

“Do you even know what airport it is?” Rose asked, stopping her. “Roxy?”

Roxy handed Rose her tablet. “Las Vegas Airport, roughly 5 miles from here. Take my tablet, but don’t change the screen whatever you do or you won’t be able to get back this tracker. You’d have to reenter all the information. I’ll stay here in case someone decides to wake up.”

When they got outside, they waved down a taxi. Rose checked Roxy’s tablet, and the beacon Roxy had it locked on. “It’s not moving, I think she’s probably settling in for the wait.” Rose paused. “Can she tell if someone’s broken away from her psychic influence?”

“I’d say no, but I’m used to Vriska, not Aranea. She might be lying in wait like a little spider,” Terezi said.  

The taxi stopped, and they scrambled out of it. They checked the tablet, and entered the airport. The signal took them to the west wing of the airport, but then the signal stopped helping. There were too many different corridors that led to other areas in the airport. They consulted the flight schedules, and headed in that direction. 

“I hope you brought your badge,” Rose said, as they headed to security.

“Of course, even if I’m off duty, an officer never forgets their badge.”

“Am I your deputy?” Rose asked, waggling her brows. 

“The almost-best deputy,” Terezi said, digging into her suit pocket for her badge. She flashed it at one of the security guards heading the metal detectors. “FBI agent Terezi Pyrope, there’s a criminal about to board a plane heading east,” she said, and leading Rose past the baffled security guard, who made an undignified squeak when Terezi patted his sides. “No time to wait for you to verify, flight leaves in thirty minutes. And this is my deputy.” They ignored the metal detector that beeped as they passed through it.

“You realize they’re probably going to come after us?”

“Well, there’s your backup, Rose,” Terezi said, cheerfully. She raised her left hand, twirling the baton in her hand. She didn’t let go of Rose’s hand. “And I have a weapon.”

“It’s nice to have backup even if they are going to be completely confused on whose side they are,” she said, rolling her eyes, but smiling.

The last section off to the left of the hallway was the flight Aranea was getting on. It was as they entered the walled off section for the flight that the airport security found them, far off down the hall as they were, it wouldn’t be too long before they caught up. No one was in the sectioned off area, and the person who called the passengers into the plane was gone. 

“Well, fuck, into the plane and hope she doesn’t use any of the passengers against us,” Terezi said, snorting.

“I’ll watch your back, since you know how to use the baton,” Rose said. 

Terezi got out her badge again, and they entered the plane. She flashed the badge to the flight attendants by the door, then headed in before they could stop them.

Aranea was seated in the first class area, and looked up as they entered, surprise on her face, then outrage. Terezi was on her before she could take off the seatbelt, but the man sitting by Aranea pulled Terezi off, holding her. Rose went in, striking him on the neck, and swiping him underfoot, but it was long enough for Aranea to snap her seatbelt off, and grab at the other minds around her. 

Terezi scrambled after Aranea, slipping between people much easier than Rose, leaving her behind to face the mind controlled people. She knocked them off their feet, and tried to knock them unconscious, so they wouldn’t come after her again, but a quick jab of pain seemed to knock Aranea out of their brains. Rose followed the trail of people to where Terezi busted knee caps to keep civilians down not even trying to gentle her blows.

That was when the security guards got on the plane. Terezi broke through the crowd of people, and Aranea reached the end of the plane having no where else to run and hide as Terezi approached her. Terezi whacked Aranea on the thigh, in the stomach, and put her in a headlock. Terezi tapped the back of Aranea’s head with the baton, and she dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. 

“Okay, one mind controlling troll detained,” Terezi said, holding up her hands. Rose followed her lead, raising her own, even as the security guards handcuffed them and took them back to the security office. They took Aranea, picking her up very gently, like any sudden movement would wake her, and made sure that the guards around her wore a certain type of headgear that created an electromagnetic field to dispel any sort of attempt to enter their minds. 

Security cross-referenced their information, had Caesar’s Palace security check in room 88 for the rest of their party, called up the police to see about the phone call Roxy placed in about the kidnapping, and verified that Terezi was an FBI agent, albeit, one on paid leave who wasn’t supposed to be working.

Aranea was held, unconscious, until the Vegas police picked her up, but Terezi and Rose was free to go after they verified Terezi’s information. 

The flight passengers on the plane just received some bruises, and maybe a scrape, but nothing too damaging. Most were more disgusted by Aranea’s abject disdain for their free will that they didn’t mind the bruises. Later, airport security found a CEO tied up in a beautifully created yarn spiderweb, and she reported that a woman in blue stole her flight ticket, and all the money she’d carried with her.

When Rose and Terezi arrived back at the hotel, it was past 9pm, and the rest of the wedding party was drunk, or heading there. Dave was dancing on a table, and Karkat looked embarrassed for him, until he spied them. He came over and hugged Terezi tight enough that she oofed.

“You two look like you ran through a back alley in the seediest fucking part of town, and a cat threw up on you,” he said to Rose, “and you got slammed by a beefcake of a man,” he said to Terezi. She winced as he touched a bruise on her head. He frowned at them. ”You’re not going to be able to wear your outfits to the wedding tomorrow.”

“We worried about you, too, Karkles,” Terezi said, grinning. 

“Very worried,” Rose said. 

“You can shut the fuck up,” he said, wagging a finger at Rose. “I heard all about it from John. How it’s your fault I don’t have a wedding cake! I heard that in-laws were bad news, and I didn’t believe it! I thought, no, Rose is cool, if scary, and she likes my novels, and don’t get me started on Bro and Dirk. I thought, no, I have some pretty awesome in-laws! Now, I’m realizing the truth. How could you, Rose,” he said. “That was mine. All mine. Dave got to plan everything else. But the cake was mine.”

Kanaya came around, patting Karkat’s back. “It’s okay, Mr. Egbert said he’d make you another cake. A better cake. Four tiers, and a cake especially for you with sugar flowers. No one else will be allowed to touch it,” she said, scooting him off. 

“Mr. Egbert is the only good thing to happen to me,” he grumbled, as she led him back to where the others were.

“I think I’m too exhausted to deal with the tumulting emotions this party is going to have,” Rose said to Terezi. She smiled sheepishly. “I also don’t want to get so drunk that I end up in another quadrant with a different person. I’m going to retire, now. See you in the morning?”

Terezi yawned, “I may join you. It looks like they’re having ball without us.”

* * *

 

Karkat got his own two tier double chocolate cake made for him by Mr. Egbert. He didn’t even share it with Dave, and glared at anyone who got too close to it at the reception. 

Rose distracted him long enough for Terezi to steal a sugar flower, laughing as he tried to chase her down, but ended up being caught by Dave for a dance. 

Due to their lack in appropriate attire, Terezi and Rose sat out of the wedding procession, but the photographer had taken enough pictures of them the day before that it looked like they had been a part of it. This time they sat in the audience by Meenah, who threw herself into the reception, dancing with John and Roxy when she wasn’t eating, and stealing Karkat for a dance or two when Dave wasn’t paying attention. It was the only way it seemed that she could ignore Aranea going off by herself, and leaving Meenah to herself. 

“May I have this dance?” Terezi asked Rose, as the song changed.

“I don’t know, I may have to go ask my wife,” Rose said. She paused, then smiled, “Wife says yes.”

They were quiet as they swayed, then Terezi muttered, “I think Karkat is still glaring at me.”

Rose looked over her shoulder. “Yes, he is. You did steal a sugar rose.”

“But I already have the best sugar rose,” Terezi said, sticking her tongue out at Rose, waggling it up and down. 

“I hope I’m not made out of sugar,” Rose said, amused. “I’d melt in the rain.”

“You’re not, you’re made out of thorns and the blood of my enemies, and you taste like salt.” The song petered out, and a new one started. They stopped, but didn’t let go, holding the other’s hand like if they held on too tight their bones would shatter into ash.

“Unless you want to, I...don’t think I will file for a divorce just yet,” Rose said, catching Terezi’s eyes with hers. Then she squeezed her bony hands, holding them together.

Terezi watched her, eyes dilated, and squeezed back, equaling Rose’s strength. “My boss wanted me to move somewhere where I wouldn’t be reminded of my last case. New York will be interesting,” she said, grinning. “And I’ll be starting up work again.”

“They’re taking you off leave?” 

“Yes! They thought I did well enough, despite some flagrant violations of using my status. I blame that on you, you’re a bad influence,” Terezi said, letting go of her hand to dig into her suit pocket.

“Maybe you shouldn’t come to New York, then, if I’m such a bad influence,” Rose said. 

Terezi brought out Rose’s dragon ring with the teal gemstones. “Ah, but I wouldn’t get to keep an eye on this little beauty,” she said, slipping it onto Rose’s finger. The amethyst ring Rose gave her was on Terezi’s finger. 

“I really am a bad influence. When did you steal my ring?”

“It was in your clutch that you left on my bed,” Terezi said, grinning. “It was technically in my hoard.”

“Technically,” Rose said, smiling as she wiggled her wedding finger. 

When Dave came by minutes later, ready to brag about being the first one in their group to get hitched, Rose waggled her ring finger at him. He didn’t even ask when or how it happened, he just turned around and grabbed Karkat so they could go do the money dance. Rose and Terezi laughed, then stood ready to join in on the rest of the celebration. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for your requests, Cephalopod!


End file.
